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What a sight!

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Campers from Camp Sight attend a pottery workshop Thursday at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center in Tamaqua.

ELLEN F. O’CONNELL/Staff Photographer Lori Lesante, left, president of Community Services For Sight, helps Breann Kowalski with clay while attending a pottery workshop at the Tamaqua Community Arts Center in Tamaqua during Camp Sight.

When Jacob Morgan was a baby, doctors diagnosed him with a condition that causes his eyes to dart uncontrollably from side to side.

Having the disorder can make it difficult to focus, Morgan said as he slipped off a pair of sunglasses to show the movement in his eyes.

And while he is visually impaired, Morgan, 17, isn’t hindered. Over the past two weeks, the Hazleton teen joined 13 other youths from Northeastern Pennsylvania for Camp Sight, a two-week summer day camp for blind and visually impaired youths.

Hosted by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Association for the Blind and Community Services for Sight in Hazleton, the camp allows visually impaired youths the opportunity to participate in the same activities as their sighted peers.

So far, they’ve learned karate, taken hikes and spent time swimming. They have also gone bowling, enjoyed a bounce house and learned to sculpt, said Lori Lesante, president of Community Services for Sight, formerly the Hazleton Blind Association.

On Wednesday, the youths rode horses at the Eagle Rock Equestrian Center.

“It was relaxing, very relaxing,” Morgan said of the afternoon ride.

Earlier in the day, Morgan said the group watched a CPR demonstration by American Patient Transport Systems (APTS) of Hazleton and toured the studios at SSPTV/Sam-Son Productions in Hazleton.

At Eagle Rock, Morgan cheered on fellow campers, some of whom were a little hesitant to ride.

Bianca Buchanan, 12, from Nanticoke, was one of them.

Even thought she climbed “halfway” up a rock wall at Camp Kresge in White Haven last week, she was not comfortable with horseback riding.

“I’m afraid of heights,” she explained.

Volunteers Judy Endo and Kelly Horning, both from the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services in Wilkes-Barre, encouraged Buchanan to pet a horse instead.

“You have to feel his nose, it’s so soft,” Endo told Buchanan, who is visually impaired.

After petting Echo, Buchanan changed her mind.

“I’m going to ride a horse,” she said. After a few minutes, Buchanan was at ease — and smiling.

Horseback riding wasn’t for Brandon McPhillips, 12, from Mayfield, who is blind. After sitting on a horse for a few minutes, he asked to dismount.

As for bowling, McPhillips loves it.

“We went bowling and I had the highest score,” he said.

Amy Marie Feldman, director of development at the Association for the Blind, said attendees also learn the daily living and socialization skills they need to become independent, productive members of the community. They also form relationships with each other.

Miranda McLaughlin, 18, of Wilkes-Barre, is visually impaired and has gone to the camp for several of the past 10 years it has been held.

“I’ve made a lot of new friends,” she said.

Attendees were at ease with each other Thursday, chatting and laughing during a visit to the Tamaqua Community Arts Center. During the morning, Craig Bulger showed them how to work with clay.

While the campers will graduate today, they’ll get together again Saturday for a trip to the Renaissance Faire near Lancaster.

Camp Sight is the only program of its kind in the region.

In central Pennsylvania, a three-week Summer Academy for blind and visually impaired high school students was held recently at Penn State University’s main campus. Morgan was among the participants in the program sponsored by the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services.

At the camp, students learned about assistive technologies, from talking clocks to talking screen readers, and practiced daily living skills such as navigating with a cane, using a laundromat and cooking meals.

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com

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